A coalition of real estate developers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has petitioned President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the National Assembly of Nigeria for a probe of the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Oyetunde Ojo, over alleged land grabbing, extortion, and administrative high-handedness.

The developers made the call in a statement signed by the coalition’s Coordinator, Benjamin Yamusa, and Publicity Secretary, Nofisat Kareem.

The statement read: “We resorted to seeking the intervention of the president and the National Assembly because of the huge financial loss we incurred and the mounting interests on the debts we got from the banks due to the deliberately slow administrative processes of the land development approvals regime being implemented by Oyetunde Ojo at the FHA.

“Mr Oyetunde Ojo’s stint at the FHA has so far brought about financial loss, stagnation of dozens of multi-billion-naira projects, all resulting from alleged land grabbing and extortion that translated into dozens of ongoing court cases.

“Most of the applications pending at the FHA were in their last stages of approval, but only to be deliberately stalled due to the encroachment of our already legally acquired lands by some land grabbers working (allegedly) in cahoots with the incumbent leadership of the FHA.

“The encroachment of our legally acquired lands by some elements with alleged full backing of Mr. Oyetunde Ojo has stalled our progress, resulting in endless court cases and mounting financial pressure due to the bank loans most of us secured for the development of the properties.

“There are dozens of court cases ongoing at various High Courts in Abuja because of the alleged illegal encroachment and illegal reallocation of most of the FHA-approved lands.

“Mr. President, we are appealing to you to arrest the alleged brigandage at the FHA under Ojo, who drops the president’s name in circumventing due process and extant rules governing land development at the FHA.

“The constant harassment by security agents and the never-ending litigations have overstretched our finances, with some of us being threatened by lenders over debts we incurred for real estate development.

“Mr. President, as a business-oriented leader, we are appealing to you to take drastic action against the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Mr. Oyetunde Ojo, over his incompetence, land encroachment, and extortion.

“What Ojo is doing at the FHA currently is not only antithetical to the mandate of the organisation, but also capable of derailing and sabotaging your administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda on affordable and mass housing policies for Nigerians.”

The coalition urged relevant committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to investigate the activities of the FHA leadership with a view to sanitising the housing sector.

The developers also reiterated their support for the administration’s development agenda.

Efforts to obtain a response from Ojo were unsuccessful, as multiple calls to his known telephone lines did not connect as of the time of filing this report. (This Day)

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